Day 42 - Sunday - 5/07/17 - Scenic Cruising Glacier Bay

My started early when I woke up at 4am and watched the pilot boat come speeding across the Straights. The pilots (2 because we'll be sailing 24/7 in pilot required waters) boarded the ship and we resumed our speed until 3 hours later we reached the area of the Park ranger station where another small boat approached us with 2 Park Rangers, 2 Tlingit cultural representatives, and 2 National Geographic of Alaska representatives.  They boarded and set up their temporary visitor center in the Crow's Nest.  Ranger Deb provided the scenic commentary, the Nat Geo folks sold souvenir items with part of the proceeds going to support the National Park.  The main Tlingit representative gave information about the Tlingit peoples and had 'show and tell' items.  But most importantly, they brought their National Park stamp so we could obtain an impression from it for our National Parks Passport book.

On the slow cruise into the bay we had the opportunity to see wild mountain goats, Stellar sea lions, sea otters a few seals (it was seal birthing time, so we didn't see as much of those as I've seen on a prior trip which was later in the season), and multiple glaciers. The weather was sprinkly, but the rain stopped as we reached Margarite Glacier, which is the most active and healthy Glacier.  We hovered in front of it for an hour before setting a course to leave.  The other ranger gave a short slide presentation on the  National Park system in general and Glacier Bay National Park.  The Tlingit representative then gave an oral history of his people, and all too soon they reboarded their launch and were gone leaving us to continue our sail to Ketchikan.

I led the 4pm interdenominational Sunday service in which around 30 people participated.  It was the final Gala night so my wife and I ate in the main dining room because it was lobster night.  Afterwards, we watched the comedy show of John Joseph ( a New York style comedian).  Personally I liked the previous night's Savannah Jack performance much more.

Since I was up so early, I elected to go to bed early while my wife watched Patriot Games.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to arrive in Ketchikan at noon for a brief 5 hour stop.  So we should have some nice daylight cruising through the passageways leading to  Ketchikan.

Day 44 - Tuesday - 5/09/17 - At sea to Vancouver

Our final day at sea arrived and I woke up early to enjoy it.  We'll be sailing out in the open ocean all day until we reach near Port Hardy when we'll enter the protected waters between the mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.  So far it's been quite smooth with only a a gentle rolling motion to the Volendam.

After leading the final interdenominational morning devotional time we participated in the BBC trivia contest scoring only 10 out of 28 possible points.  17 was the winning score.  Harry Strong then gave a nice presentation on Tsunamis.  Our final lunch was Asian fare and quite tasty.

Following lunch, Terry Greenberg gave a great presentation on the coastal First Nation people.  He was followed by Andy Fletcher who gave his concluding presentation on Life and the Meaning of Everything.  It really tied everything hung together.  

We enjoyed our last dinner in the Lido after watching the channel south of Port Hardy.  Later on I was in the Crow's Nest and saw part of a humpback whale breech as we passed through a narrow passageway between two islands.  Because the evening entertainment (Savannah Jack) was so popular, I staked out a seat early.  Both shows were high energy and very well attended.  I finished packing and had our luggage out before midnight.  

We're docked in Vancouver waiting for our disembarkation color to be called.  I'll do a last post after we get hone later today.  I hope you've enjoyed following along.

Day 43 - Monday - 5/08/17 - Ketchikan

It's hard to believe that we are on the next to last day of this 44 day voyage from Hong Kong.  After a very restful night's sleep, I woke up at 6am to us sailing down the channel beside Petroglyph Beach State Historical Park.  Overnight we had sailed out   into the ocean and then by Cape Pole we did a series of 'S' turns and the last major right turn by Cape Baker put us into the inland passageway we are currently sailing in.  The skies are overcast with a few sprinkles and a fairly low cloud ceiling.  I'm writing this segment sitting up in the Crow's Nest watching my world go by at about 20mph.  It's peaceful and tranquil with a slight undercurrent of country western music playing in the background.  Ahead of us is a large vessel that seems to be pulling away from us.  Earlier a small power boat sailed past us in the opposite direction.  The seas are very flat with only a slight wind ripple on the surface.  The tide or current marks are very prominent breaking up the surface sheen of the water.

Terry Greenberg gave an excellent history update on Alaska from the purchase to modern days.  Afterwards we watched the sail in to Ketchikan past an AK ferry in dry dock and a second one loading vehicles.

It's now evening and we had a good but brief day in Ketchikan.  There was the Star Princess in town when we arrived at noon and the projected rain held off all day.  As we have been to Ketchikan several times, we just walked around touring shops and reminiscing about our previous visits.  We ate at the oldest Mexican restaurant in Alaska (Cisco's) and it was good to taste a different cuisine with flavor!  While at the restaurant, the entire Island suddenly lost power, but we were able to be served.  We visited the local museum and then walked among the cute little shops along Creek Street which are built on pilings about 20 feet above the creek's headwaters to the ocean.

Back on board at 5pm, we watched the sail away and I grabbed a quick bite to eat before we watched the final 8pm performance of the cast show 'Classique'.  We came back and watched the 10pm showing as well.  We had seen the first performance of the show by another cast on another ship, so it was fitting that we see the last performance by this cast on the Volendam.  After a 5 week break, they are taking the show to the Veendam.  They will be replaced by a new cast with an entirely new set of shows by a new American producer for the subsequent sailings.  This should freshen things up a whole bunch as the current set of shows is getting a bit stale for us having seen them multiple times over the past 3 years.  With HAL having such a high rate of repeat business, keeping fresh shows has to be a real challenge.

After tonight, it's only one more sleep until we're done with this cruise.  Stay tuned for the final day's report and a wrap up post.

Day 41 - Saturday - 5/06/17 - At sea in Gulf of Alaska

I woke up this morning with a full on cold and congestion.  It was a bit of a struggle to lead the morning interdenominational service, but I made it through it.  There was a full schedule of 3 lectures plus the Ask The Captain Q&A session.  The quantum mechanics lecture was first and it was truly weird.  Terry Greenberg followed with a great lecture on Russian expansion into Alaska.  

After lunch I attended the America's Test Kitchen presentation on Chocolate, then the Captain's Q&A, and concluded the afternoon with Harry Strong's presentation on what causes movement in the ocean.  After this activity I collapsed and took a 2 1/2 hour nap which was refreshing.  

Savanna Jack was the evening's entertainment.  They are a high energy band from Nashville and they did a tribute to songs from 1955 to 1975.  It's their first time performing on HAL ships. It was so good we went back for the 10pm performance.

Day 40 - Friday - 5/05/17 - Kodiak, Alaska

I woke up this morning at 4am to the accompaniment of the ship rolling a bit and for some reason couldn't fall back asleep.  Finally at 6:00am I got up and showered and headed up to the Crow's Nest to watch the sail in.  There were low clouds and a number of small rock formations as we approached the Kodiak harbor.  I could see the Alaska State ferry Kennicott berthed off to our port or left side.  We held our position for a long while when the Captain finally  came on the PA system and said the Alaska ferry had a mechanical issue and would be delayed an hour.  So we continued to hold our position when he came on the PA system again saying there would be a further delay of an hour. Towards the end of that 2nd hour he inched the Volendam towards its berth and held the ship 90° to the dock until the the Kennicott departed.  He then swiftly rotated the Volendam a further 90° counterclockwise and slid her gently up against the pier.

At around 8:45am I called our tour guide to advise him  what was going on. After another wait the gangway was put in place and the yellow school buses were arriving to serve as the shore excursion transportation.  I never heard Deck 9 being called but finally I saw people disembarking the ship and getting in the yellow school buses for their tours or the ride to downtown. Every 20 minutes they would call another lower floor number 7, 6, 3, and 2.  At 10:45am I called our guide again and expressed concern that we might not make the 12 noon tour.  I should add that all the while we were waiting, the eagle watching was really good!

Then at around 11:20am we got the call for deck number 1 to get cleared.  We got in line and after 15 minutes a crew person finally came to the back of the line and had US passport holders go to a separate and significantly shorter line.  We then were through in less than a minute.  HAL just has to do immigration better!!  We should have been instructed to seek the proper line and it would have been more fair for the non-HAL tour passengers to use the numbered card system so that those who weren't planning to get off could use a later time for the immigration inspection.  And if US passport holders were such a minority, process us first and get us out of the way.  This inspection process made the previous inspections in Asia seem like a choreographed ballet in comparison!  End of rant.

Once off the ship another party on our excursion spotted me and noted that our van was nearby and we didn't need to take the shuttle into town to Henry's to meet with our guide.  So we boarded a comfortable van and Brie, our guide, took us to town and then to the top of the big hill above the town where they have 4-6 large windmills.  Those combined with hydropower provide 95% of Kodiak's power.  We also enjoyed nice vistas although it was a bit windy and the clouds kept obscuring the views.

Our next stop was at Ft. Abercrombie State Historical Park which is a memorial to the defensive guns that were constructed for WWII, but never fired.  We saw 8" guns that were left over from WWI battleships that were put in use for the 2nd world war.  From there we made a stop at WAL MART so a number of us could purchase some provisions.  I felt a cold coming on so I purchased some cold medicine.  Our final trip took us out to the fairgrounds to see a large eagle's nest.  While the eagle wasn't  visible, our guide assured us the best was in use and two eaglets should be soon visible. We also got to see the large US Coast Guard facility and the airport before being dropped off downtown where we did some souvenir shopping and then walked back to the ship along what the locals call cannery row due to the number of canneries found there.  They actually don't can anything here; they just process and freeze it for later processing in the lower 48.  It's only 4-5 blocks from downtown to the ship.  There's a cool store along the way called Pickled Willy's which  sells some incredible pickled seafoods and there were lots of samples.  We definitely spent some money there!

Because of our delay in the morning, the onboard time was extended by an hour to 5:30pm, and we made it back on by 5pm.  Before our customary Lido dinner, we watched the sail away which wasn't complicated and we departed promptly at 6pm.

I watched the movie, 'Sully', for the second time this cruise and each time it seems like a new movie.  I really like it.  I then watched the 10pm cast show of 'Dance' which is my third time to see it this cruise.

Tomorrow is a sea day as we cross the Gulf of Alaska.  We'll see if the seas are as smooth as when crossing the Pacific.

Day 39 - Thursday - 5/04/17 - At Sea to Alaska - 6

Today was our final day of the crossing of the Pacific, and I have to say it has been quite smooth.  The second officer said in his navigation talk that it has been the smoothest crossing he's experienced.  

After the morning interdenominational service which I led on the topic of generosity, Harry Strong gave an excellent presentation on Curtis Flying boats.  Mr. Strong has been volunteering in the restoration of several of these vintage items and has direct personal experience with them.  

For the noon PA announcement of the position and meteorological update and time zone change, Bruce, the Cruise Director, gave it and the Captain gave the onboard events update.  Both were deadpan serious, and we all enjoyed the switch. Following lunch, the Navigational talk was on the general subject of maritime education and how to get one's license to become a master of the vessel.  We also received a weather update that indicated the rainy weather should hold off until we leave Kodiak.   He also indicated that we have a damaged left or port stabilizer and that we are running solely using the right stabilizer.  

Terry Greenburg then presented his final talk on Asia in which he predicted a flip flop in the importance of the Eastern economies compared to the present dominance of western economies, particularly the USA.  I found the evidence compelling, although it probably won't happen in my lifetime. But the symptoms are all showing up now.

From the end of Mr. Greenburg's talk until dinner we reassumed our whale watching position in the Crow's Nest.  The watching was good; the finding was not.  Later my wife saw some dolphins.

Tonight's entertainment was a variety show featuring Rob Watkins and Electric Strings.

Today we learned the US immigration procedure and it will be a bit unfair for those with early non HAL tours.  The procedure will be for those on the higher decks to be processed first and proceeding down to deck 1 which is scheduled last in 2 hours after the start.  HAL tours will be processed among the preceding groups.  Fortunately my non HAL tour doesn't start until noon.

Stay tuned as we are about to finish the final 5 days of this 44 day cruise with a sailing down the Alaska and British Columbia coastlines.

Day 38 - Wednesday - 5/03/17 - At Sea to Alaska - 5

It was a whale of a day!  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  After the morning interdenominational service, there was the BBC game show with all new questions and then we went to the Crow's Nest to read and watch for wildlife.  After lunch in the Lido (we skipped the Indonesian lunch in our he main dining room), I went to the daily bridge and weather lecture presented by the second officer.  Captain Baijens then presented a PowerPoint virtual tour of the bridge plus photos of the Volendam in its last dry dock.  This was followed by a lecture on Quantum Mechanics which was changing to keep up with.  Afterwards we watched for wild life from a now familiar spot in the Crow's Nest.  We saw a few whale spouts plus we sailed alongside Unalaska (Dutch Harbor).  After a short break for a Lido dinner, we resumed our whale watch.  

And were we rewarded.  For almost 3 hours it was a continual display of spouting whales, breaching orcas, dolphins and the like,  this continued all the way through the Unimak Pass which is an 8 mile wide channel.  It was very busy with shipping traffic and we saw 4 large cargo vessels including one huge log transport ship.  All we're headed towards Japan via the great circle route.  We also had terrific views of Mt. Pogromni at 6568 feet and Mt. Shishaldin at 9372 feet. Both are inactive volcanoes and the whole Aleutian Island chain was formed by volcanic activity.

We watched the 10pm performance of the Alley Cats and then the Phillipino crew member show which was as well attended as any of these crew shows. It was a full house.